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Choosing The Right School For Your Child*

Choosing where to send your child to school can be
as daunting as it is exciting. You might live in an area where there are lots
of potential options for primary and secondary schools.

You might want to send your child to a local
primary school, or perhaps you want to send them to a boarding school like http://www.rossall.org.uk/. There are a number of different options to
consider.

But how do you narrow down your choices and find
the right fit for your child?

Types of school

The first thing to look at is the type of school
you could send your child to:

State schools are the most common, they follow the
national curriculum and make up the majority of schools in the UK. Different
schools have different entry requirements, for example grammar schools often
require an exam prior to entry as pupils are commonly selected based on
academic ability.

Special schools are schools with specialised equipment
and training to help teach children that have various special educational
needs. This includes being able to help with specific aspects of development or
allowing a child to learn while also helping with the management of a long-term
condition.

Faith schools are very much the same as a state
school, however they can also teach elements of a specific religion as the
religious studies aspect of the curriculum. They might also operate their own
specific admissions criteria.

You might be able to rule out certain schools based
on how they meet your child’s needs. For example you might not require a place
at a special school helping you to focus your search in other areas.

Admission criteria

One way to narrow down your choice of school is to
look at your current list of choices and see which schools your child meets the
admission criteria for. For many schools this can be a mixture of the
following:

Adhere to a particular religion (for faith
schools)

Are currently in care or being looked after

Live in the local catchment area

Who do well in the entrance exams (this
applies to schools with a selection process, such as grammar schools or
stage schools)

Who have a sibling already at the school

Who went to a particular primary school (can
influence entry into certain high schools)

You might be able to use these to narrow down your
choices, for instance you might be able to rule out some schools based on
religion, or the distance from home. This helps you to make your list of
potential options much more relevant to your child.

Doing your research

Once you have your list of potential schools for
your child the next step is to carry out research.

Researching different schools can take different
forms. This can be as easy as requesting a prospectus to give you a very
top-level insight into a school and what it can offer your child.

You should look at going along to open days. Take
the opportunity to have a look around, look at the facilities, meet the faculty
and try to get a much more personal feel for the school. Take your child along
and see what they think too, especially as they will be spending a lot of time
there, so it’s important that they feel comfortable.

Open days and prospectuses are very good at
presenting an image of a school to people, you should always look a little
deeper than this. Maybe you have friends or family who have sent their children
to the same schools. Try talking to them, what do they think, are their
children happy at the school? What are the teachers like to deal with? Taking
the time out to speak to people can give you extra insight you might not
necessarily have had.

If you don’t know anyone who’s had dealings with a
school before then try looking online. You should be able to find feedback from
parents, inspection results and Ofstead ratings which can help to fill in any
gaps and ease any reservations you might have about a school.

Talk to the school

The last thing you need to keep in mind when it
comes to talking to and researching a school is that if there are any specific
questions or worries you have then contact the school in question.

Ask specific questions, perhaps even arrange to go
in and have a chat. There’s no harm in getting the information you need,
especially when it all relates to something as important as your child’s
education.

Doing your research and narrowing your search down
is massively important, it streamlines the entire application process by giving
you a clearer idea of where you would like to send your child and puts you on
the right path to guaranteeing that they get the best education available to
them. *Contributed on behalf of Rossall School